Made for Beginners
Last month, I set a goal to grow some food in the desert and be able to preserve my mini harvest, so that I could start to teach my kids how to do this...again. It's been a while.
The goal for my first week was to simply research 3-5 foods that I could grow in the Las Vegas desert, that wouldn't just die, and that I could preserve easily as a beginner. I've gardened. But I've never preserved food. In fact, I'd be considered a food waster, if anything. And I am proud to say that I succeeded in my first week goal!
Month | Week | Goal | Obstacles | Contingency Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
March | 1 | Find 3-5 foods that preserve the best that also grow well in the Spring that we will enjoy eating, including potatoes | Almost every seed should have been started in Jan/Feb | Plant them anyway, it'll be fine - That's part of learning |
What to Grow First in the Desert
Some things I considered with this was the time of year I was starting and, for me, coming out of the holidays and getting the new year under my control, seemed like a great starting point. So, I needed things to grow in early Spring. I also wanted to grow things I would actually eat, so this is not an all-inclusive list. For the thorough list I used, check out this Gardening Know How article.
Green Beans - Best to plant in March...which gives me more time to tend to earlier seeds
Cucumbers - Which I've done before, so I know the vine needs
Tomatoes - Easy to start indoors and then transplant
Watermelon - This might be a bonus option for me since it grows for months, but how neat if it actually grew well enough
Potatoes - Apparently these things just grow themselves but they won't be preserved for this
What to Preserve First as a Beginner
This search had to do with what I wanted to grow
and how I would need to preserve it. I learned there are two ways to preserve things:
Water bath canning
Pressure canning
To figure out what to preserve, I considered what I would eat, what would be easy to put into the jar recipe-wise, and then what would last. First, a general rule of thumb is that most home-canned foods will last about a year, so that was no longer a factor. As for what I would eat, I eat store-bought canned tomato products, green beans, and pickles, so it seemed like a good way to start.
My plan was to preserve:
Green beans - Grown from home
Cucumbers - Grown from home and pickled
Tomatoes - Grown from home and made into spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce
Peaches - Purchased nearby just to have some in bulk
Raspberries - Purchased nearby to make into jam because that's the only jam we eat
This wasn't the biggest goal to meet but with the life, sometimes just getting the information can be a lot. I am on my computer or phone often looking up random stuff, and it still took me some time to get the ball rolling. Or to get myself to look it up and intentionally remember it or save it. I realized I have to be a smidge organized since I'm starting out. Once I get into growing, and preserve things for the first time, I may not have to work so hard next time.
What do you dream of storing? Do you see yourself more of a buy and preserve person or a grow and preserve person? I'm doing both, so no judgment here! Let me know in the comments what your next obstacle might be in this and what you're going to try to grow.
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